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Originally Posted by howyoudoin
People in most fields of work get laid off for reasons of supply-demand mismatch, redundancy, not being good enough etc. Authors need not be seen as any different. Risk is inherent in most endeavours in most fields of work.
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How do you lay off a self-published writer?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Redcard
Most authors out there (like myself  ) are not supported by the community at all. We just have day jobs. |
Wouldn't you want to be supported by the community?
Quote:
Originally Posted by taustin
The average American reads two books per year.
Royalty rates are, from what I understand, considerably less than 20%.
Very few professional writers make a living solely from writing.
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Statistically, from the point of view of the publishers one in 10 people buying 10 books is the same as each of the 10 buying one book. From the point of view of the author one in 10 people buying 10 books can mean at best one sale per title, while each of the 10 people buying one book can mean at best 10 sales per title.
I considered the royalty rates at 20% because while we have the normal rates lower than that, you have to consider the authors that get 70% from Amazon.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DiapDealer
Is this like guessing how many jellybeans are in the jar? I'm gonna go with 1,027 authors. Consumers can sustain 1,027 FTEs. Unless they decide to sustain more.
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FTEs?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joykins
Very few authors make a living out of their IP alone. At best they have a revenue stream of sorts. My guess is that most authors do it as one of a few jobs, even if one of those other jobs is "mother."
The best option for an author is to become blindingly popular and middling-prolific, like Stephen King. Unfortunately, it's not an option available to most of them (in some instances this is regardless of talent/skill).
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It's survival of the fittest.